United may have dipped into their back catalogue to give David Moyes his first taste of the kind of dramatic late fightback that became a defining feature of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign.

But the late goals from Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez served only to paper over the cracks that have exposed the champions ’ underlying vulnerabilities as they struggle to adapt to life after Ferguson.

Turning on their own is not the United way, yet the creeping sense of unrest was indicative of the deeper malaise festering within the club.

For much of this contest, it seemed Stoke were going to join West Brom and Southampton in leaving Old Trafford with their chests puffed out, and the champions looking decidedly ordinary.

That United managed to turn defeat into victory says everything about their enduring belief and refusal to ever accept they are beaten, when lesser teams would have accepted their fate.

Without their famed fighting spirit, they would have lost this game and entered November 11 points off the top, a ­disconcerting ­position at this stage of the season for the 20-time champions.

As it is, United’s fightback kept them eight points adrift of leaders Arsenal, who travel to Old Trafford on November 10 for a game that could define this season’s title race.

But Moyes put his own spin on the victory by pointing out United were unbeaten in their last five games, winning four.

“It was a big moment when you’re 2-1 down with 10 or 15 minutes to go,” he said. “It was a big moment to win the game.

“Hopefully we can continue to win games. If it’s in the same fashion then we’ll take it, but if we can make it a bit easier it will be great for the old ticker.

(Image: Alex Livesey)

“We need to keep winning our games and there are big games to come, so hopefully we will continue to improve as we go along.

“It’s the same players and we have the same spirit here. I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t have. The players are doing everything they can to win games, and I am pleased with that.”

Midfielder Michael Carrick echoed his boss, claiming the manner of the win could prove to be a pivotal turning point in United’s season.

“We kept going and believing we’d get there and we did,” said Carrick. “We left it late, but we’ve proved over the years it sometimes does take until the last few minutes to score and win the game.

“It’s the character we have – it was a vital game to win. We didn’t really have a choice, we had to find a way to win. We kept going and believing, and ended up finding that win.

“We have to kick on and get back to our normal selves. We’ve still got a way to go, we’re not kidding ourselves, we’ve had a couple of good results but by no means are we at our best – there’s more to come but we’re not in bad shape.”

United were pedestrian in the first half and went behind after three minutes, when Peter Crouch converted from close-range after David De Gea had made a fine initial save to deny him.

United equalised on 43 minutes when Robin van Persie scored after Asmir Begovic had saved a Rooney header.

The visitors restored their lead thanks to Marko Arnautovic’s free-kick on half-time, before headers from Rooney and Hernandez sealed the win late on.